What's wrong with the media?

[JeeperOne]

**The blurred line between actual news, entertainment, and advertising.

One needn't look any further than Entertainment Tonight, EXTRA, Access Hollywood[/i], TMZ & even CNN's very own Showbiz Tonight.

**Focusing upon what's cheap to cover instead of whats substantive, both from a monetary standpoint and an intellectual one. Sexy ideological punditry has become more attractive than actual news investigation, which simultaneously explains Fox News' popularity and other news channels' de-evolution.

Except for one small problem Nate....

ALL of FOX News is biased toward the politically Right Wing. They are TERRIBLE at hiding it.

**A lack of competitors to ESPN, and better separation amongst what's entertainment and what's news coverage inside ESPN's family of networks.

What do you think the FOX Sports Net group of regional channels & Versus have been?

Granted a national channel going head-to-head with ESPN is SORELY lacking, but this will change as NBC Universal's Universal Sports reaches higher penetration marks

In the meantime, the only national (Such as they are) alternatives to ESPN we currently have available to us (Other than FSN & Versus) are the league-owned networks (e.g. MLB, NFL, NHL & NBA), SPEED (e.g. NASCAR & other auto races) & Outdoor Network (Hunting, Fishing, etc) as well as part time outlets such as TBS/TNT (Baseball & Basketball), Spike (TNA Wrestling & UFC Boxing) & USA Network (WWE Wresting - At least until it's moved to Universal Sports).

Someone please let me know if I'm missing a network here.

**Rigid objectivity--providing two sides, or an 'opposition' to a story when 1) its more complicated than just two sides and 2) one or more of those sides is clearly dealing in specious or false information. Here we are in 2009, and there are groups that would still have people believe that Christopher Columbus discovered America, cigarette smoking isn't linked to cancer, global warming/climate change is a hoax, and that abstinence-only education is the most effective way of preventing unwanted pregnancies and STD contraction. (And that's despite historical, scientific, and empirical research de-bunking all of them.)

And let's not forget the H1N1 outbreak. Some people believe we're in the midst of a global pandemic (If not an epidemic) while others are saying is no worse than catching the regular flu. It all comes down to who you believe nowadays.

When it comes to the subject of health & medicine, I'd take the word of MY OWN doctors before I take the word of some talking head on TV pretending to be a doctor (A certain doctor on a certain cable news channel comes to mind here having watched this closed-circuit channel while at my mom's doctor's office earlier today. That's because is MY doctors have my medical records. THEY are the ones who know my medical history. And THEY are the ones who know what's best for me. NOT SOME TALKING HEAD.

**That newspapers weren't quicker to use the web to complement their superior news-gathering rather than having the web eat them alive.

Well for this, you can go back to the days when radio first started. Afterall, after radio started & before television came along in earnest after World War II, THE MOST RELIABLE means of getting information WAS via the radio. It just so happened to be that it took over sixty years for newspapers to realize just how doomed they really were once radio started.

Just my opinions....

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

Is Fox sports not a good competitor to ESPN?

Not really. Fox Sports Net is a group of separate regional sports networks with some national content. ESPN and its siblings are national networks with some regional content. The FSN networks emphasize their own local territories. ESPN emphasizes east coast national sports coverage.

FSN does at the regional level what ESPN does at the national level. While there are a number of alternative regional networks in some areas (All of which are on DirecTV via their sports package - Can't speak for DISH Network since I'm not a subscriber), there really isn't a true alternative to ESPN as of yet (Though NBC Universal is trying to change that with its Universal Sports digital subchannel which I believe will take off once the digital transition is finally complete nationwide).

Until then, we just have to deal with the league-owned (Conference-owned in the college ranks) networks, CBS College Sports, Versus, FSN (And it's group of channels), TBS/TNT, Spike, USA Network & regional channels which regularly carry ESPN Plus programming.

No, I don't call WGN America a sports channel because they only televise a small - VERY small at that - of Chicagoland sports.

Just my opinion...

Cheers

 

[BRNout]

>>ALL of FOX News is biased toward the politically Right Wing. They are TERRIBLE at hiding it.<<

That's simply not so Pat. Rather than arguing with you about the political leanings of Brit Hume or Shepard Smith, I'll just hit you with the low-hanging fruit: Geraldo Rivera. That man has NEVER been accused of being politically "Right Wing" yet FNC gives him his own show. And, he's often used as a reporter for them.

So there game, set and match. At least on that one statement.

Yes, the talk shows certainly skew rightward. The actual news coverage is more debatable. If you actually watch it, you'll see that it's pretty even handed. Plenty of Republicans have complained now and then about Fox's coverage of certain news events. That tells me that they try to keep it centered - outside of the talk programming - which provides them with their (very successful) format.

However, I'd like to add that, aside from Joe Scarborough (though he's evened out by the left-leaning Mika Brezinski), all of MSNBC skews toward the hard Left Wing. Even the news nymphs like Contessa Brewer. They literally wet themselves whenever Obama comes on.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Have you all seen this "poll" in TV Newser? http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/politics/grading_the_press_corps_115487.asp Seems like no one is happy with the Press Corps coverage.

 

[LKellerIII]

>>ALL of FOX News is biased toward the politically Right Wing. They are TERRIBLE at hiding it.<<

That's simply not so Pat. Rather than arguing with you about the political leanings of Brit Hume or Shepard Smith, I'll just hit you with the low-hanging fruit: Geraldo Rivera. That man has NEVER been accused of being politically "Right Wing" yet FNC gives him his own show. And, he's often used as a reporter for them.

So there game, set and match. At least on that one statement.

Yes, the talk shows certainly skew rightward. The actual news coverage is more debatable. If you actually watch it, you'll see that it's pretty even handed. Plenty of Republicans have complained now and then about Fox's coverage of certain news events. That tells me that they try to keep it centered - outside of the talk programming - which provides them with their (very successful) format.

However, I'd like to add that, aside from Joe Scarborough (though he's evened out by the left-leaning Mika Brezinski), all of MSNBC skews toward the hard Left Wing. Even the news nymphs like Contessa Brewer. They literally wet themselves whenever Obama comes on.

Uh...careful how you use the word "literally," there, BRNout...unless you have actual knowledge that one or more MSNBC pundits actually urinated in their pants when Obama came on.

I agree that's it's really the talk shows that make Fox News seem right wing. I've even wondered if Shepherd Smith is a closet liberal. When his personal viewpoints sneak out, they often tend to be...well...not that conservative. Depends on the issue, I guess.

I was surprised that during the recent run up in gasoline prices (when it was $4.50 per gallon), CNN ran a number of reports predicting that we would run out of oil, or speculating that oil could reach $10 per gallon. All that was BS as we've learned - demand for oil had actually gone down during that price run-up. It was all market manipulation.

What I found interesting is that only one news network that I'm aware of took on the oil companies themselves, and ran at least a couple of reports that were very critical of Exxon, Chevron, et al. The network was Fox News.

 

[benwolf]

Actually Lkeller, CBS news had several reports on oil trader manipulation, including a very good expended report several months ago on 60 Minutes...as I recall it was from Steve Kroft.

 

[LKellerIII]

Actually Lkeller, CBS news had several reports on oil trader manipulation, including a very good expended report several months ago on 60 Minutes...as I recall it was from Steve Kroft.

Yes, I saw that 60 Minutes report - it was excellent, but it was months after oil prices had returned to under $2.00 per gallon. During the crisis, the only reports I saw that were critical of the oil companies was on Fox News. I hedged my bets by saying "the only reports that I was aware of" because I obviously did not see all news programs on all networks during that time.

 

[BRNout]

Yes Lkeller, you got me on the use of "literally" - I was just trying to accentuate my point and certainly can't prove that statement (though it would be fun to try)! They certainly seem to.

About Shep Smith, I have noticed that too. However, I didn't want to cite him as one who leans left on a personal level as I cannot provide proof. But, Geraldo Rivera is proof enough that not EVERYONE at FNC is a conservative. That's mainly the province of the talk shows. Honestly, people confuse formatting with an overall bias or agenda. While it's true that FNC has staked out a claim on the political right, they also try very hard to offer "unbiased" news coverage. If their news coverage is guilty of a major bias, it's a bias in the direction of sensationalizing news stories. Hardly a right-wing trait.

Most of the other networks, on the other hand, clearly do lean left in their reporting of the news. Some (ABC, CNN) less than others (NBC, CBS). But all four have plenty of bias "moments" during news reports.

 

[Otto Maddock]

However, I'd like to add that, aside from Joe Scarborough (though he's evened out by the left-leaning Mika Brezinski), all of MSNBC skews toward the hard Left Wing. Even the news nymphs like Contessa Brewer. They literally wet themselves whenever Obama comes on.

Uh...careful how you use the word "literally," there, BRNout...unless you have actual knowledge that one or more MSNBC pundits actually urinated in their pants when Obama came on.

LOL - I thought BRNout was referring to Chris Matthews' "tingle up my leg" comment.

 

[LKellerIII]

However, I'd like to add that, aside from Joe Scarborough (though he's evened out by the left-leaning Mika Brezinski), all of MSNBC skews toward the hard Left Wing. Even the news nymphs like Contessa Brewer. They literally wet themselves whenever Obama comes on.

Uh...careful how you use the word "literally," there, BRNout...unless you have actual knowledge that one or more MSNBC pundits actually urinated in their pants when Obama came on.

LOL - I thought BRNout was referring to Chris Matthews' "tingle up my leg" comment.

Ewww! You know Otto - now that you've said that, it can't be un-said.

Yes Lkeller, you got me on the use of "literally" - I was just trying to accentuate my point and certainly can't prove that statement (though it would be fun to try)! They certainly seem to.

About Shep Smith, I have noticed that too. However, I didn't want to cite him as one who leans left on a personal level as I cannot provide proof. But, Geraldo Rivera is proof enough that not EVERYONE at FNC is a conservative. That's mainly the province of the talk shows. Honestly, people confuse formatting with an overall bias or agenda. While it's true that FNC has staked out a claim on the political right, they also try very hard to offer "unbiased" news coverage. If their news coverage is guilty of a major bias, it's a bias in the direction of sensationalizing news stories. Hardly a right-wing trait.

Most of the other networks, on the other hand, clearly do lean left in their reporting of the news. Some (ABC, CNN) less than others (NBC, CBS). But all four have plenty of bias "moments" during news reports.

I think that's a fair assessment. I've also noticed that Fox News has a tendency to over-sexualize their female anchors - mostly by troweling too-much makeup and big hair on them. And there's one that always wears eye weird make-up that reminds me of a Raggedy Ann doll. I hope this doesn't sound sexist, but I think it detracts from their journalistic credentials...that is, for those who have any. I notice that's not true of the male anchors on Fox News.

 

[Otto Maddock]

About Shep Smith, I have noticed that too. However, I didn't want to cite him as one who leans left on a personal level as I cannot provide proof. But, Geraldo Rivera is proof enough that not EVERYONE at FNC is a conservative. That's mainly the province of the talk shows. Honestly, people confuse formatting with an overall bias or agenda. While it's true that FNC has staked out a claim on the political right, they also try very hard to offer "unbiased" news coverage. If their news coverage is guilty of a major bias, it's a bias in the direction of sensationalizing news stories. Hardly a right-wing trait.

I think that's a fair assessment. I've also noticed that Fox News has a tendency to over-sexualize their female anchors - mostly by troweling too-much makeup and big hair on them. And there's one that always wears eye weird make-up that reminds me of a Raggedy Ann doll. I hope this doesn't sound sexist, but I think it detracts from their journalistic credentials...that is, for those who have any. I notice that's not true of the male anchors on Fox News.

That doesn't sound sexist at all. In fact, I agree and question whether it's a good idea for them to do that. I don't really get the chance to watch the anchors on Fox News; only the regular "Fox News Contributor" guests I see on O'Reilly all the time, and they're all quite easy on the eye. I'm from the old school, preferring my news from a grandfatherly Walter Cronkite type, so when I see someone young and attractive, the first thing I do is question their journalistic credentials, too. It's human nature. But after awhile, you realize time marches on and all those grandfatherly types have to make way for the up 'n comers. So it's either watch them or don't watch the news. That's how I felt when ABC seemed to squeeze out Joan Lunden on Good Morning America in favor of Elizabeth Vargas. Then something happens. You're more or less forced to watch the new person, and he or she grows on you... and proves their worth. Sure, it's nice to watch Megyn Kelly & Lis Wiehl on O'Reilly, but they're both attorneys, and now I value their intelligent contributions.

As for Shepard Smith, I usually watch Lou Dobbs at 7, so I'm not in a position to comment on his straight news reporting. But he did make a guest appearance on O'Reilly last year during the campaign, and completely ripped apart Joe the Plumber, if that's any indication.